


The Paths of the Dead

by eradicating (sabriel)



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Possible OOCness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-07 01:06:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1113690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabriel/pseuds/eradicating
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To live, first you must die. Kurosaki Ichigo was dead. Five years, two months and sixteen days after he'd won over Aizen with the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho. A series of drabbles on Ichigo's life thereafter in the realm of the dead.  </p>
<p>(crossposted from my account on ff.net)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very slightly edited version from ff.net.

Kurosaki Ichigo was dead. Five years, two months and sixteen days after he’d won over Aizen with the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho.

Ichigo was a protector. That had never changed and will never change. It was in his name, in every fibre of his being. So when he saw a little boy on the road about to get hit by a speeding car he didn't even hesitate. The next time he woke up it was to clear blue skies above him and the hard ground below him in Rukongai. He was alone. After a cursory look around him, he flopped back onto the ground, draping an arm over his eyes. The sky was so bright here. Bright enough to cause his eyes to water, or so he told himself.

“Sorry Goat-chin. You told me to live well, age well, go bald well, die after you and die laughing. Guess I only got one out of five...”

Despite what everyone else thought, Ichigo was actually pretty okay with losing his powers. He’d been (mostly) normal once upon a time, and going back to it hadn't been as completely awful as everyone had made it to be. (Of course it HURT, there was hole in his world but it was hardly the first and wallowing extensively in self-pity was one of the most useless things to do and he’d learned that real early in his life.) He didn't regret using the Final Getsuga Tensho one bit. All he ever wanted was to protect his friends, and he had succeeded in doing exactly that. Besides, they were all strong enough to protect themselves now, and each other too.

What he couldn't stand however were the whispers, the nervous sideways glances and the looks of pity directed at him. He may have lost his Shinigami powers but it didn't mean he was deaf, dumb and blind, damnit! (And the almost never-ending parade of thugs and wanna-be yakuzas looking to pick a fight kept him in fine physical HUMAN form.)

So right after finishing high school, he’d moved away from Karakura, keeping contact with his old friends only through occasional emails and phone calls. It was just easier that way for all of them. Ichigo’s marks in high school had been good enough to get him a scholarship in a college away from Karakura. Not having to worry about madman with aspirations of godhood and murderous monsters out to eat his soul had done wonders for his class rankings. (The look on Ishida’s face when he’d beaten him for the top spot in the mid-term exam ranking had been hilarious and remained one of Ichigo’s fondest memories.)

He missed Zangetsu of course, but it wasn't like they were separated forever. Zangetsu was and still is a part of him after all and Ichigo was sure that one day sooner or later he’d have his Zanpakuto's comforting weight back in his hands. He wouldn't admit it under torture, but some days he even missed the damn hollow.


	2. Chapter 2

His reiryoku was returning. He could feel the empty space that was inside him since that day he used the Final Getsuga Tensho slowly filling up again day by day. Ichigo’s returning power didn't feel quite the same as before, but he shrugged it off as part of dying properly the entire way this time as opposed to the last few times that he ‘died’ and was then revived somehow.

At night, he dreamed of a city inverted on its side, with broken skyscrapers shooting upwards towards the sky that were slowly being repaired bit by bit and two familiar voices echoing throughout the empty city.

When he woke up the next morning, Ichigo would reflexively grope around for Zangetsu, only to feel a sense of disappointment when it wasn't there. He’d sigh, then get on with the rest of his day. He’d also give himself a firm reminder that he’d been without his Zanpaktou for five years and that being patient a while longer wouldn't hurt.

Small steps, Ichigo told himself firmly. Small steps. (Never mind the fact he was more the type to take a running leap ahead.) After all, time was something he had plenty of in the land of the dead.


	3. Chapter 3

Yoruichi watched in her cat form as the boy...no...the young man fished in the nearby river for his supper. It was only by luck that she felt an vaguely unfamiliar reiatsu flare when a hollow attacked and investigated out of curiosity or she would have never found him. (Watching Ichigo deal with the hollow by kicking it in the face until the mask broke was unexpectedly entertaining.) Rukongai was simply too big. The outer districts frequently went unpatrolled due to the fact Gotei 13 was still recovering from the war. Training soldiers, especially good soldiers took work and time. Hence the more frequent hollow attacks. She had taken to randomly picking one outer district to patrol once every so often and today her efforts have finally paid off. 

She has always prided herself on having exquisite timing when it comes to entrances. So Yoruichi waited until Ichigo had taken the first bite of his slightly burnt fish before dropping down onto his shoulders from the branches of the tree she’d been hiding in.

“Care to share?” 

The high-pitched yelp alongside the startled face Ichigo made was quite satisfying.

“Yo..Yoruichi-san!” The boy scrambled up from his sitting position, his hand automatically reaching for his still missing Zanpaktou before stopping himself. 

“Well? What does a cat have to do around here for a bite of fish?”

A hour and a half later, Yoruichi considered herself quite pleased with her current circumstances. A full stomach, a warm lap and clever fingers that scritched just right at the back of her neck made for one happy feline. 

There were many questions she wanted to ask the boy but those could wait. She was a cat after all.


	4. Chapter 4

_“So Ichigo, what are you doing here in 71st West District?”_

The words ‘instead of heading to Seireitei’ weren't spoken out loud but he knew that was what she meant anyway. He sighed and looked up and across the river towards the direction of where he knew Seireitei was located.

 _“Dunno. Woke up with this ticket in hand and kinda just wandered in this direction after I....”_ He couldn't finish the sentence. Not yet anyway. So he shrugged and left it at that. _“Anyway, I wanted some time to think things through first instead of just diving myself headfirst back into being a Shinigami again.”_ And both of them knew that was what would happen if Kurosaki Ichigo the hero of the Winter War presented himself at the gates of Seireitei.

That was certainly different from the rash teenager she’d known. Then again he was older now and the phrase with age comes maturity usually did have some ring of truth to it. She had never considered him to be stupid either. As far as Yoruichi was concerned the boy could do as he liked now. He’d certainly earned it. So she’d keep this to herself for now. Besides, she was confident that he couldn't stay away from the Shinigami forever. Some bonds weren't that easily severed (not even through death), especially for someone like Ichigo.

_“If you want to keep on avoiding attention, then you’ll need to do something about that uncontrolled reiatsu of yours. Out here it’s going to attract Hollows by the dozens.”_

It took time, hard practice and lots of scowls and irritated grumbling when Ichigo got frustrated with his progress (or lack of) to get his reiatsu down to what a regular unseated Shinigami would have, even with the advice and reiatsu control exercises Yoruichi had him practice. He'd never had the time or inclination to work on reiatsu control during the Winter War. There had always been too many things to worry about or do then. Now though, life would be a lot easier if he didn't feel like prime steak for Hollows all the time. (It wasn't that he couldn't deal with them like he dealt with the last three hollows, but it wasn't only Hollows he wanted to avoid right now.)

Yoruichi wandered off in the middle of one of his practice sessions and it was months later before he saw her again.


	5. Chapter 5

He gained his first “duckling” in the 66th district. (Predictably, it was Yoruichi who came up with this name when she saw what was going on. She also couldn't stop laughing for ten minutes straight.)

Takara Shin was born hungry, or so he remember being told once by a woman who might or might not have been his mother. It was one of the few remaining memories he had of her. As a kid with stronger spiritual powers than most kids (and even most adults) around him, he was mostly hungry for food. He was quick and clever and it was only a matter of time before one of the meaner gangs that infested the outer districts tried to recruit him against his will or tried to dispose of possible competition before it became a bigger issue after spotting him stealing food (and sometimes more). (There was also the issue of Hollows showing up occasionally trying to eat him.) True to his nature, Ichigo got in between them and with liberal applications of violence persuaded them to leave Shin alone. Shin had enough brains to latch on and not let go after that.

It didn't take long for Ichigo to gain a small following of kids of various ages and sizes after Shin. He'd always had a soft spot for children, and orphans were aplenty in Rukongai. Children who appeared without family in Rukongai were usually adopted into family units who had the resources and inclination to take one in, but there were always more. Ichigo took time to teach them what bits of karate he remembered from his lessons as a kid in an attempt to keep them out of trouble and tried his best with various success to keep them fed and clothed.

They called him Kazue-nii, for he was their elder brother, protector and a blessing in their lives. It was as good as a name as any, Ichigo thought. He didn't want to be Kurosaki Ichigo just yet.


End file.
